IWV water survey due Monday

Saturday

Jan 25, 2014 at 7:00 AM

By Jack BarnwellCITY EDITORjbarnwell@ridgecrestca.com

A long-anticipated, highly-touted water survey is scheduled for release on Monday, according to county officials.Mick Gleason, Kern County’s First District Supervisor, said Thursday at his Ridgecrest office that the water survey for the Indian Wells Valley Resource Opportunity Plan, first proposed in early 2013, will provide a roadmap for water concerns.“It’s a compilation of studies that have been done in the past, plus input from people today that gives us a little better insight into what our aquifer looks like,” Gleason said.While a compilation of reports, Gleason called it an “educated opinion” rather than a serious plan of attack.“There are precious few facts about the hydrology in our valley because we don’t have the resources to properly characterize the aquifer, so we do the best we can,” Gleason said. Overall, the IWV Resource Opportunity Plan targets three core areas for the area: water, trails and the Navy’s mission at Naval Air Weapons Station, China Lake.Todd Engineering was tapped to conduct the study compilation and opinion about the IWV water basin.“What we’ve done is try to take a look at all the studies and paint a collage of facts and put them together,” Gleason said.The IWV Resource Opportunity is the first step “to preserve our future” in the future.Gleason said the report will indicate that the IWV is in overdraft, that the aquifer is a closed basin and that “we are using more water than is recharging into the aquifer.”Included in the plan is a set of solutions or an initial plan of action.“It’s a long range plan,” Gleason said.The resource opportunity plan still needs to pass muster with the Board of Supervisors, tentatively scheduled for March.“Once it passes, I’m going to give the nod to Lorelei Oviatt to develop a strategic plan for the Indian Wells Valley, so that the Indian Wells Valley can conform with the county’s general plan,” Gleason said.Oviatt is the Kern County Planning Department’s director.“One of those key elements of that specific plan is going to be to ensure adequate water quality and adequate water amount for the Indian Wells Valley for the future,” Gleason said.Oviatt, in a phone interview Friday, said that the IWV Resource Opportunity Plan comes out ahead of Gov. Jerry Brown’s drought emergency plan that calls for local collaboration.“We are already working proactively to come together for the common vision of where we are with water in the Indian Wells Valley, with our uses, prioritize our solutions and take action, “ Oviatt said. Oviatt said the report is entirely done by Todd Engineering based on the research it has done.“This report stands on its own,” Oviatt said. “It’s a compilation of all the data and a professional report of information from meetings with experts, with the Navy and the Indian Wells Valley Water District and people in the community.”She said that Todd Engineering has provided a professional opinion resolving some of the questions about the water basin.“It also has an entire section of solutions with, at the county’s request, steps to many of the solutions,” Oviatt said. “We will have a foundation to start working together.”The next stage is a public workshop in the IWV in February to gather public comment, explain the report and then provide the information to the Board of Supervisors along with the Todd Engineering report in March.Kern County’s planning department is shifting into gear with the specific plan and the environmental plan, including securing consultants and working out funding. That way, when it goes before the Board of Supervisors in March, Oviatt said board members will be better equipped to provide direction.Oviatt acknowledged the delayed release of the report, citing the need for additional information.“We’re actually very pleased (about additional information) because we got additional information from the Navy,” Oviatt said. “There was a groundwater flow model that had just been completed and we wanted to make sure it was integrated into the plan before it was released.”Oviatt made the call to delay the release “because it was too confusing to release Todd’s report and then revise it again.”Once it’s reviewed by the Board, Oviatt said the goal is to look at resources to execute the plan with Gleason’s input.“We’ll be looking at what actions can be done, what state and federal monies that can be leveraged for these conclusions and just get to work,” Oviatt said.The Todd Engineering report hits Kern County Planning’s website at http://pcd.kerndsa.com/ on Monday at 8 a.m.